Dr. Katarzyna Chrudzimska-Uhera,
Excerpts from (an article printed in December 2010)
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„The praise of life. A few sculptures by Ryszard Wojciechowski”
[…] Wojciechowski made the human being the central subject of his art. A figure appears virtually in all his works known to us. From the formal perspective, the sculptor treated human body ruthlessly. It served as a means of his expressive statement: he deformed it, flattened it – the shapes were characteristically crumpled, wrinkled; their surface was covered by a relief pattern of a drawing, sometimes supplemented by a mosaic or fresco.
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Dr. Maria Daszkiewicz,
The story of the sculpture began with… my ceiling. We were neighbours, Richard would drop by sometimes. He came to like my house, its high cedar ceiling in particular. He used to say, “It wouldn’t be bad to hang something from that ceiling.”
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Małgorzata Piekart,
Institute of Art of Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw.
"He has his own unique style which represented a specific yet harmonious combination of abstract and realism. His final touches has always been well mastered and his approach to the theme very original. The above mentioned characteristics of his are combined with the universal character of his ideas contribute to enthusiastic reception of his pieces. He is widely acclaimed due to his exceptional talent and unlimited imagination”
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Barbara Majewska,
Zachęta Gallery, Warsaw.
"His works belong to widely understood realism but it has had a tendency to oscillate towards allusion and poetic metaphor. His sculpture was filled with enormous humanistic expression, it applies both to his monuments, minor sculpture and medals. His subtle drawings combined with the highest quality of materials and specific deformity of his sculptures were extremely expressive”
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"Richard Wojciechowski is highly regarded in the European community as a sculptor, muralist, painter, teacher and conservator of historical monuments"…
…"He presently works out of studio on West 6th street in North Vancouver. As you enter his modest, well ordered studio space, you immediately feel a sense of reverence. White lights pours down through the skylight, flooding the room with an ethereal glow, illuminating the sculptures, plaques, and exquisite metal bas-reliefs. Tools from the past hang purposefully on the wall suggesting use by a person of great technical virtuosity.
Harkening back childhood fancy, Richard creates work in three, as well as two dimensions. His two-dimensional base reliefs and flattened figures seem a playful reference to the period in the early Renaissance when artists first discovered perspective.
In fact, in experiencing his studio, there is an eerie familiarity with these objects, drawings, and plates. Familiar, yet profound stone faces look at you; and old woman with her hands tight to her face, a child jumping through a ring of water. And like a sculpture entitled "The Thread of Remembrances", of a woman enveloped in her memories, her hands float away from her body, attached only by a fine thread. The viewer too becomes enveloped in memory of the past times, past civilizations. A succession of images … Pompeii, Byzantium, World War II, the Crusades, and the late 19th century flood your mind.
There is a sense of time and timelessness in this history of the human condition."…
ART MATTERS - North Shore Art Commission 1991
From the article "Gesture of Time" - by Caroline Frances Lair
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“Writer James Huneker once said of art, it is “an instant arrested in eternity” Those instants, interpreted by artist, are their gifts to the rest of us and their legacy after they are gone. So it is with North Shore Rhapsody, the sculpture of a harpist located in the lobby of Centennial Theatre.
Her creator, Ryszard Wojciechowski, died Wednesday Jan.22, [2003] of cancer. He was 64. Born in Poland... Wojciechowski created even at a young age. “He once told me he couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t sculpt” said friend...” As a child he made sculptures out of mud. It was in his blood, it was a gift.”
He became a professor of art and was known in Poland for his sculptures...”
North Shore - “Polish sculptor leaves a legacy” by Deana Lancaster